Novel Autoantibody Serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers in Veterans with Gulf War Illness

Abstract

The major goal of this study to develop objective peripheral biomarkers for Gulf War Illness (GWI). The following proposed specific aims have been accomplished. 1) Adapting our autoantibody assay to plasma. 2) Comparative study of Biomarkers for Gulf War Illness (GWI), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) has been demonstrated. 3) We only could collect four samples of cerebrospinal fluid during the no-cost extension year that we requested and was approved. During that year, we have been preparing several manuscripts that have now been published in peer-refereed journals (See details in the report). Our results confirm the continuing presence of autoantibodies against neural proteins in GW veterans and are in agreement with recent reports indicating that 30 years after the war, the health of veterans with GWI is not improving and may be getting worse. Such blood-based autoantibody tests have proven to be useful as biomarkers for various conditions of veterans of the 1990-1991 Gulf War such as Gulf War Illness (GWI), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). We plan to present our results at scientific meetings and in additional peer-reviewed publications.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 2020
Accession Number
AD1137206

Entities

People

  • Kimberly Sullivan

Organizations

  • Boston University Medical Campus

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Brain Injuries
  • Cells
  • Chemistry
  • Health Services
  • Medical Personnel
  • Neurodegeneration
  • Pain

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Gulf War Illness and Chronic Multisymptom Illness in Veterans.
  • Technical Research and Report Writing.